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20/10/2011
REVIEW by EWAN KENNEDY
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“Pssst, wanna buy a new Jaguar for 85 grand, no questions asked?” Until last week, the only question to enter your mind was whether to call the police, or take a chance and buy a dodgy Jaguar that had probably been stolen.
That was last week, now the Jaguar importer is offering a new variant of its stylish Jaguar XF for just $84,990. Even better, the government doesn’t steal any of your hard-earned money when you buy an XF – because the already low price also includes all taxes and dealer delivery charges.
Until now, a Jaguar XF would have set you back over $100,000. Jaguar has achieved the low price by introducing a new turbo-diesel engine, as well as taking advantage of the lower Luxury Car Tax (LCT) rate due to its low fuel consumption, and the increased value of the Australian dollar against the UK pound.
Jaguar joins other European marques in being aware that the Australian sales are stronger than those in Europe, so all are willing to throw dollars at our country to pick up extra sales.
There has never been a better time to buy a car, any car, in this country.
The new Jaguar XF 2.2 engine is a four-cylinder unit, but on the road it feels almost as smooth as a V6. Noise and vibration are well isolated from the cabin though, as is often the way, there’s no doubting it’s a diesel when you’re outside.
Jaguar XF now has a new eight-speed automatic transmission with Drive, Sport and Manual modes. Manual changes are made by using paddles behind the steering wheel and are lightning fast.
This new drivetrain is responsive, with strong torque that gets it off the line with a minimum of lag. It is low geared in the first two ratios, which suits Australia’s endless suburban driving. Tall gearing in the top end of the box is aimed at pulling down the fuel consumption, but the willingness of the new automatic to drop down through the gears means power is there when you need it.
The stop-start system built into the new turbo-diesel is one of the fastest we have experienced and is unobtrusive to the extent that you soon forget it’s there. So it lets you trim fuel consumption and emissions without any irritating effects.
Ride comfort is very good, though the Jag can create a fair racket on some coarse-chip surfaces as the tyres aren’t as well isolated as in some competitors’ cars. Noise levels on other roads are well muffled and when cruising at 110 to 120 km/h on motorways the British sports saloon soaks up the miles with effortless ease.
When launched to surprised Australian buyers in June 2008, the Jaguar XF was the first model from the British marque to give up the retro look and take a completely new, futuristic shape.
As well as the new engine option, the Jaguar 2.2 introduces a facelift that’s carried across the XF range. This has a grille that’s larger and slightly more upright than before. The headlights are slimmer and have complex styling inside their narrowed lenses. The bonnet previously had a slight retro touch in carrying the shape of round headlights backwards. That has gone, and the bonnet now has almost a power bulge. At the rear edge the bonnet has a slight rise to partly hide the windscreen wipers.
It’s not just the exterior of the Jaguar XF that moves in a different direction, the interior theme is elegantly simple in an all-new manner. It features air vents that are hidden when the engine is switched off and a gear selector that's more like a computer mouse than a traditional lever. This lever is also hidden when the ignition is off, rising slowly out of the console.
Jaguar’s new entry level XF 2.2 brings the British marque within reach of many people who could previously only dream about owning one. It will give the midrange German trio a real run for their money on the showroom floor. |
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